Tanzania

Dar es Salaam — Problems facing the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) yesterday dominated talks between President John Magufuli and his Zambian counterpart, Edgar Lungu, with the two countries seeking a permanent solution to Tazara's long-standing woes. In a joint press briefing after the talks, President Magufuli said the two countries had agreed that the Tazara management setup needed to be changed to allow people from outside Tanzania and Zambia to be considered for senior managerial positions in the firm. This is contrary to the current arrangement where the managing director comes from Zambia with Tanzania providing the deputy. "We have agreed that the attorney generals of the two countries will meet as soon as possible to review the legal framework of the Tazara Act of 1975 to accommodate changes in the management setup," he said.

The government is contemplating to include Tanzanite gemstones in national foreign reserves at the Central bank instead of gold which is shunned due to price instability, the Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Phillip Mpango has said. Dr Mpango said in Parliament yesterday that the Central Bank was considering the idea of instating the rate and extraordinary gemstones in the reserves because of its price stability in the world market and the fact that it is mined in Tanzania. Tanzanite is the blue/violet variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxyl Sorosilicate) belonging to the epidote group. It was discovered by a Tanzanian Jumanne Mhero Ngoma in the Mirerani Hills of Manyara Region in Northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Nick Hughes is known for being at the forefront of innovation in Africa. He is responsible for founding and developing the M-Pesa mobile payments service in the mid-2000s while working at Vodafone. Today the platform is hailed as one of Africa’s top success stories. Over 70% of the Kenyan population uses M-Pesa, and other markets such as Tanzania are showing strong adoption.

This article is one in an AFKInsider series that follows some of the young African leaders chosen to participate in U.S. President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The initiative is a U.S. effort to invest resources in the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs. Each year since 2014, 500 young Africans have been chosen to visit the U.S. and receive mentoring at top U.S. universities. Here’s the story of one of them.